GTHA Mayors and Chairs urge all eligible residents to get vaccinated especially in COVID-19 hot spots

HAMILTON, ON - "Today, Mayors and Chairs from the 11 largest municipal governments across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area held their regular weekly meeting to discuss the ongoing response to COVID-19 across the region.

We are thankful that Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Ford are working together to get more help in place to help combat the third wave of this pandemic. In particular, we commend Prime Minister Trudeau for his efforts in reaching out to the rest of the country to help Ontario in general and the GTHA in particular. And we express our thanks to Premier Ford for his announced increased allocation of vaccines to GTHA hot spots.

The Mayors and Chairs welcome any additional health resources that can be deployed in the GTHA right now. We also anticipate continuous discussions between ourselves, the Province, and health and science advisors with respect to the public health measures in place from time to time.

All GTHA municipalities have additional capacity in their vaccination delivery systems that would benefit from increased vaccine supply. All of us have the capacity to do more and we will continue to work with the other governments to obtain more doses. The more vaccine doses we receive, the more shots we can get in arms in our hotspot areas. We also urge the Province to maintain as much certainty as possible with respect to committed vaccine allocations and to ensure as much advance notice as possible in the event of any changes.

We welcome the fact that the province has opened up AstraZeneca vaccinations to all residents age 40 and older. This will lead to more people getting vaccinated at pharmacies across the GTHA. We strongly encourage the Province to accelerate the signing on of more pharmacies and encourage all residents who are newly eligible for this vaccine to sign up and get their shot."

“Please get vaccinated as soon as your turn comes up or if you live in a COVID-10 hotspot. Until then, please follow the provincial stay-at-home order and stay home except for essential work or work that cannot be done from home, grocery store visits, medical appointments, and outdoor exercise such as a walk around the block. This, along with mask-wearing, frequent hand-washing, and maintaining a safe physical distance, will keep you and your loved ones safe.”

- Mayor Fred Eisenberger